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Opening the triangle, I could barely read the scribbles. “He thinks your cote. You have my blessing. Cote? Is that a new slang word the kids are using?”
EO slapped his forehead. “Cute. I think you’re cute.”
I eyed the napkin again. Had his husband just given him permission to go on a date? I had encountered a lot of arrangements, but nothing quite like this. I didn’t quite know what to say. Did I want to see EO out of his uniform? That was a Texas-sized 10-4. But dealing with the fallout of a complicated hookup, didn’t exactly make my penis hard.
“Think about it. In the meantime, here’s my number.” He handed me a second napkin. I was about to refuse, to avoid the complications, when I caught the smile stretched across his face. Damn, he was charming and sexy. I rescinded my earlier comment. Penis approached full mast.
“I will.” I wanted to pull that suit off and ride him until I ached. Some people have a little devil on their shoulder convincing them to do bad things. Mine resided in my pants.
“Good.” The portal opened, and he stepped backward. With a quick waggle of the eyebrow, the stud vanished to who knows where.
“You’re playing with fire, Al,” I mumbled.
5
“We havelive coverage of the factory being destroyed by the Nocturnals. Megan, what do we know?”
I rarely watched the news, but the breaking update interjected itself on every channel. The city in peril provided white noise as I scrubbed down the bar and reset after a busy night. Tonight’s tips were well earned, but it also meant that my station was a mess.
“We’ve been told there are five members of this frightful team. As of now, we’ve only seen three. But they are demolishing the factory. Explosions continue to go off in the wings of the building. We do not know why they would attack this location. At the moment, we have no idea what it contains.”
One of the bar backs dropped a box of bottles on the counter as I watched the footage from the helicopter. “For your empties.” I turned around to examine the rows of alcohol to see there were a good number of near-empty bottles.
“Gracias, Shawn. Can you grab the trash? Otherwise, I think I’m good.”
“No hay problema.”
“Oh, no!”the woman on the television screamed. I glanced up just in time to see a large piece of equipment from the factory flying toward the reporter. There was shouting before the screen turned to static. Ever since the depowering, villains found a new sense of zeal in their schemes. Before, it had almost been comical. Now they doubled down in their efforts, and it seemed as if the heroes were being run ragged.
The screen cut to a man in the studio.“We’re getting word that Megan is safe. The news chopper is making an emergency landing. We have yet to find any information behind the attack, but we’ll keep you posted.”
“It’s getting bad out there,” Bruno said. I placed a bottle of tequila on the shelf. “I wouldn’t want to be a hero right now.”
Bruno’s comment supported my earlier thought. The heroes of Vanguard City didn’t seem to be winning this war. “What do you think they want this time?” I asked.
“That’s part of what’s changed. Before, it was like they always had an agenda. Revenge. Money. Fame. Alien technology to make themselves overlord of humanity. Now? They just destroy things and terrorize without rhyme or reason.” I didn’t realize that Bruno spent time studying the motives of villains.
Bruno handed me bottles from the box until I finished replacing the empties. The reporter continued speaking, but didn’t add new information. “What changed?” I asked.
“Heroes across the globe lost their powers. They were powerless. That kind of fear would give me performance anxiety,” he said.
I had to agree. “Did you see that guy from the Guild tonight, Eclipse? Powered people like that,” I growled, “they should be out there doing some good. But instead, they’re basking in their own glory. Hopefully, more good guys stand up and protect the city.”
“Speaking of heroes…” Bruno didn’t hide his knowing grin. He was about to give me grief about my newest fans. “Come out with it, Al.”
“Out with what?” I preferred playing coy. I didn’t like to plaster my escapades across the wall, especially not with the staff. Of course, they knew my reputation. It came up frequently in conversation, but I didn’t need to feed into—
“Are you going to peg him?”
Blunt. “I don’t know.” It was the truth. “I think he asked me out on a date? But I’m not so sure.”
“Have a nice dinner. Drink a few drinks. End the night with your skivvies around your ankles. What isn’t there to like about this?”
“He has a husband,” I blurted. Okay, coy wasn’t exactly my best trait. I held out for almost a minute. That might be a record.
“Cheater?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. His husband gave his blessing.”
